What is "impressment"

Impressment \Im*press"ment\ ([i^]m*pr[e^]s"ment), n. The act of seizing for public use, or of impressing into public service; compulsion to serve; as, the impressment of provisions or of sailors.

The great scandal of our naval service -- impressment -- died a protracted death.
--J. H. Burton.

1796, "act of impressing into service," from impress (v.) + -ment.

n. The act of seizing for public use; impress into public service.

n. the act of coercing someone into government service [syn: impress]

Impressment, colloquially, "the press" or the "press gang", refers to the act of taking men into a military or naval force by compulsion, with or without notice. Navies of several nations used forced recruitment by various means. The large size of the British Royal Navy in the Age of Sail meant impressment was most commonly associated with Britain. It was used by the Royal Navy in wartime, beginning in 1664 and during the 18th and early 19th centuries as a means of crewing warships, although legal sanction for the practice goes back to the time of Edward I of England. The Royal Navy impressed many merchant sailors, as well as some sailors from other nations. People liable to impressment were "eligible men of seafaring habits between the ages of 18 and 55 years". Non- seamen were impressed as well, though rarely.

Impressment was strongly criticized by those who believed it to be contrary to the British constitution; at the time, unlike many of its continental rivals, British subjects were not subject to conscription for any other military service, aside from a brief experiment with army impressment from 1778 to 1780. Though the public opposed conscription in general, impressment was repeatedly upheld by the courts, as it was deemed vital to the strength of the navy and, by extension, to the survival of the realm.

Impressment was essentially a Royal Navy practice, reflecting the size of the British fleet and its substantial manpower demands. While other European navies applied forced recruitment in time of war this was generally as an extension of the practice of formal conscription applied to most European armies from the Napoleonic Wars on. The U.S. Continental Navy did however apply a form of impressment during the American War of Independence.

The impressment of seamen from American ships caused serious tensions between Britain and the United States in the years leading up to the War of 1812. After the defeat of Napoleon in 1814, Britain ended the practice; later conscription was not limited to the Royal Navy but covered all armed forces.

Impressment by the Royal Navy in Nova Scotia happened primarily during the American Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. Guard boats patrolled Halifax harbour day and night and they boarded all incoming and outgoing vessels. The Navy always struggled with desertion in Nova Scotia, and it often threatened to use impressment as a punishment for communities that harboured and assisted deserters. The Navy used guard boats as floating press gangs, conscripting every fiftieth man out of ships entering the harbour. It even pressed Americans from cartels and prison hulks. Warships shot at vessels to bring them to, damaging their sails and rigging, and at least one fisherman was pressed while checking his nets.

British warships sent armed press gangs into Halifax, where they fought with townspeople. The incidents were frequently violent and people killed. The press gangs would drive all before them in the streets. The press gangs would bind recruits’ hands behind their backs and marching them through the street like criminals.

Impressment caused socio-economic problems to Nova Scotia. For sailors, it was often a violent and life-altering experience. They potentially faced years in the service, forced separation from their families and friends, and death through disease and combat. Civil and personal liberties were suspended for the good of the British war effort. Generally, impressment victims were young men from poor and middle-class backgrounds. Sailors and fishermen, they supported family members and widowed mothers, and were often married with young children. Dozens of families in Liverpool alone were torn apart by impressment during the Napoleonic Wars.